"The manuscript (of The Book of Secrets in the Results of Ideas) was copied in 1266 from the original text written by Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi in the eleventh century. The only copy is in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence, Italy. A unique source of medieval Arabic technology, it presents designs for more than 30 devices, including water clocks, calendars, and war machines."

"It’s too bad she’s the first girl I ever really knew, Thomas thought. I have no way of knowing whether all girls are this way or if she’s unique. I wonder if every guy heaves an instinctive sigh of re…"

"One of the factors that caused Spencer's ideas to lose popularity was social Darwinism... Social evolution is different from biological evolution: it's faster, it's Lamarckian, and it makes even heavi…"

"Time, time only, can gradually wean us from our Epeolatry, or word-worship, by spiritualizing our ideas of the thing signified."

"... of all the minorities in America, the blacks have undertaken assimilation as first-class citizens under the greatest number of handicaps. Many early political leaders of the United States, includi…"